My cousin-in-law (relationship easily viewable on Geni) Steven gave me the greatest gift - a box of 10 Science Fiction books that he finished reading and thought were good.

I read Dan Simmon’s Ilium and Olympos and thought they were ok. Interesting take on mixing Greek mythology and science fiction.

But I just finished Spin, by Robert Charles Wilson. It’s awesome!! It explores the question of whether we as an “intelligent’ species can plateau our population under the Earth’s sustainable limits. Check out this page (BTW, this Amazon online reader is pretty amazing); http://www.amazon.com/gp/sitbv3/reader/105-3190140-4479647?asin=0765309386&pageID=S06U&checkSum=71sE6nL2ZoS31e%20ECU/Un2PDw0MedgbfrXCaddbet5Y=.

But it also has really elegant writing, something rare in SF books. The books starts with the line, “Everybody falls, and we all land somewhere.” Essentially an optimistic perspective, the cup half full.

I feel a lot of what I am working on is tied together in this book:Staying connected with Family and Friends - the thread holding the book together - my job at Geni.Helping the truly poor who cannot help themselves - like a “Fourth” in Spin - my work with Grameen.Longer term view on how to help our species live sustainably on Earth - the premise of Spin - my work with JUCCCE.